


Crowns and Treehouses

by Miranda_tries_their_best



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Childhood Trauma, Friendship, Historical Inaccuracy, Hurt/Comfort, Loss of Parent(s), Loss of Trust, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past minor character death, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Roman Remus and Janus are kids, Royalty, These are all fun tags, This is supposed to be cute with only like background darkness but you know, Tree Houses, all the bad things happen in the past
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:27:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24506905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miranda_tries_their_best/pseuds/Miranda_tries_their_best
Summary: Janus and Virgil arrive from the kingdom's capital with the village's old scholar Logan out of nowhere.But Roman and Remus are just excited when they hear about a new kid their age and are immediately determined to make friends with the boy no matter how different Janus's old life may have been from theirs, the three of them will become the bestest of friends and no, Janus does not get a choice on the matter.
Relationships: Background Anxiety | Virgil/Logic | Logan/Morality | Patton, Creativity | Roman Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders
Comments: 21
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

Remus buzzes with excitement as he dashes through the trees of grandma Lori's apple orchard (Not actually his grandma but Remus doesn't doubt that Grandpa would change that if he didn't have that stick up his butt.) It only takes Remus ten minutes running full speed to get from the village square to the treehouse he knew Roman to be in.

"Roman!" Remus shoats from the outside, scrambling up the latter and into their small shelter. "Get up, get up- Ha!" Remus barks a laugh as Roman lays on the ground, looking rather confused with his feet still tangled in the hammock. "You fell again!"

"Shut up!" Roman glares at him. "Your yelling keeps startling me awake! I got into attack mode!"

"Is your attack mode just falling to the floor?" Remus cackles as his twin detangles his legs to stand up. "Good strategy, they might think your a doormat and trip over you."

"Is there a reason you woke me up?!" The other ten-year-old glares at his brother and Remus bites back the joke about Roman needing his beauty sleep because this is so much better.

"Logan's back!" He bounces on his feet, pumping his arms up and down with his excited energy. "You'll never guess who he's with!"

"He's back?" Roman immediately perks up at the idea of the scholar having returned, the man who taught the twins how to read during the small windows he came home to visit. Remus would never admit it like Roman but the both of them were a little worried about the man, all the adults were talking about the revolt in the capital and the death of the royal family lately with no news about who was spared or not. "Thank goodness he's okay! Do you think he's staying this time?"

"Not important right now!" Remus whines as Roman completely misses what he's putting down. "He came back with another guy and his kid! An us age kid." Remus wiggles his eyebrows as Roman's eyes light up.

"New kid?" Roman asks, starting to bounce like Remus.

"New kid!" And just like that, Remus is bounding out the entrance door and practically hopping down the ladder to take off back towards the village.

"Hey!" Roman shouts after him but Remus doesn't need to look back to know his twin is following a bit behind him. "I call dibs!" Roman catches up fairly easily as he didn't just run all the way to the treehouse and would have run past Remus if the boy didn't shove him to the side.

"You'll scare him away!" Remus calls back.

"I'm the charming one!"

"No! I'm better at friends!"

"No! You smell weird!"

The twins bicker as they run, eventually slowing down as they approach the down both because Remus's lungs burn from running so much and because they always get in trouble from their grandpa for running around people since Remus changes paths for no one and will barrel his way through a crowd.

"What do they look like?" Roman asks like a dummy, how would he not recognize the only new people in the village.

"Clean." Remus still answers though. "He and his dad looked kinda fancy, I bet they're from the capital with Logan."

"Do you think Logan has a boyfriend?" Remus makes a face at that as his brother giggles. "Lo could have saved them and escaped the castle together with their child."

Remus snorts at whatever gross romantic daydream wedding his twin is having. "More like they saved Logan, the dude looks ripped. Do you think they saw the King and Queen get beheaded?"

"Remus!" Roman hushes him with a shove. "Grandpa said not to talk about it!"

Remus shoves back, harder to make Roman stumble. "Now I wanna talk about it more! I bet they squirted blood all over the place! I bet the castle was on fire-"

The boy is promptly shut up with a hand over his mouth. "Shhhh!" Roman shushes and pulls Remus behind one of the shops. "Is that him with- Eek! Gross!" Roman cries out and wipes the slobber from his brother linking him off his hand.

"Oh! That is totally him!" Remus peeks from behind the wall, completely ignoring his brother's sputtering behind him. "Look, his dad is talking to Patton." Roman, of course, pushes Remus's head down to look overtop his head instead of just leaning around him.

"Oh, he is strong." The twins look at a tall man wearing dark clothing smirks as he talked through a window with the baker. Now that Remus was actually looking, he could see the scars that travel up the man's arms, and Remus can only assume past the rolled-up sleeves. This was obviously someone who's seen a lot of battle so Remus couldn't help but agree when Roman spoke again. "He's totally evil."

"Duh, look at his cloak!" The dark fabric only covers one half of his body, obviously made more to look nice then actually keep him warm.

"He's an evil wizard." Roman nods above him.

"No, no. He can't be a wizard." Remus points to the man. "Look at all those scars, that's close combat. He's some sort of warrior, definitely magic but he probably uses a sword."

"A Knightmare." Roman says in a mysterious voice but Remus just snorts.

"Nightmares are horses, poo brain."

"No, like a Dark Knight!" He explains and the twin feels more inclined to agree with that so just nods along because an evil knight sounds really cool.

"Oh!" Remus shoves his brother off him as he finally spots the kid they came here for, who was just leaning against the side of the bakery looking kinda sad. "That's him!"

Remus doesn't wait for Roman, immediately running forward towards the other kid who notices him near immediately and looks increasingly startled as the boy approaches. "Rems!" He ignores his brothers hisses to wait and instead stands in front of the shorter kid and holds out his hand.

"I'm Remus, I'm ten and I like to eat worms because it makes my brother scream." Remus introduces himself as Roman catches up. "That's my little brother-"

"We're the same age."

"Roman, we're twins but I'm older so I'm cooler and we're friends now." The boy in front of him looks alarmed but hesitantly reaches out to shake Remus's hand.

"I am- I'm Janus." Remus has to bite back a giggle at Janus's accent, this is totally a fancy city kid. "I don't know if friends work like that but okay."

Roman takes this moment to push forward, taking Janus's hand from Remus and bowing to the other boy. Remus doesn't miss the way the new kid tenses up and sends a panicked glance to his dad who didn't seem to notice them at all. "I am Roman, protector of this town, and slayer of dragons!" Roman introduces himself like the wannabe knight he is. "Please forgive Remus, he has hit his head on hard surfaces more times than I can count."

"He can't count very high but it's still been a lot." Remus informs and Janus raises a hand to hide his snicker as Roman's face turns red, the boy relaxing as his brother stands straight again.

"I can count higher than you!"

"Can not."

"Can too!"

"As riveting as this conversation is," The new kid interrupts before the twins can get too deep in an argument. "Is there a reason you're talking to me or..?"

"We're kidnapping you." Remus puts on his serious face and stares the kid right in the eyes but Roman punches his arm before he can get much of a reaction.

"Don't scare him!" Roman snarls before flipping back to smile at Janus. "Wanna come play with us? Remus won't actually kidnap you, promise. He's all bark except sometimes he'll actually bite so don't put your hand near his mouth or anything."

"I'm... not sure if I should." The new kid hesitantly looks between them and his dad and immediately Remus can tell that this is a snobby rich kid who's probably never had fun in his life and Remus completely blames his Knightmare dad guy since obviously that has to be the reason he looks nervous.

"You can ask your dad first if you want." Roman gestures to the Knightmare and Remus watches Janus as it seems like a switch has been flipped.

"That's not my dad and I don't need his permission to do anything." Janus moves forward from the wall he was leaning on, heckles raised like a pissy cat. "Let's go, he's too distracted with his flirting anyway."

"Ooohh, rebellious city boy." Remus giggles and doesn't hesitate to grab Janus's hand. "Let's go!" He yanks the boy with him, cackling as he scrambles to run with Remus and as Roman sputters in offense at having been left behind.


	2. Chapter 2

"So, where are you taking me?" Janus asks walking beside Roman as Remus stomps several feet ahead. "I'm starting to question the kidnapping bit now."

The twins had been forced to stop running near the edge of town by Janus who had stopped and freed his hand from Remus's hold and hissed at him to ask permission before touching him again, which Roman makes a note to watch his brother since Remus wasn't always great with personal space.

"That's right! We lured you into the woods to kill you!"

"We just have a treehouse in the orchard," Roman is quick to explain. "We usually play around there."

"Yeah, we can't actually murder you." Remus pauses to turn around, walking backward. "Grandma would be really mad if we got blood on her apples again."

'Again.' Janus mouths and spares a glance to the more saner twin but Roman just gives him a shrug, it wasn't actually all the fun of a story so it's better left a mystery.

"Are you from the capital?" He asks instead. "You and uh, that guy? Logan works at the castle and you're in some pretty clothes so we kinda assumed."

Janus looks away from him, any amusement the kid had before now seems to have faded back into the sad look he had before. "Yeah, I grew up there."

"We lived there for a bit when we were six, it's pretty there." Roman sends Remus a look before his twin can say anything, hopefully cluing in his brother to be gentle. "Ma had a tailor shop there, it's how we know your wearing good fabrics, that and the embroidery is pretty." He resists the urge to touch the little sunflower embroidered at the base of the boy's shirt.

"Oh, I actually did that myself," Janus mumbles and runs his fingers over the designs. "I usually got in trouble for doing it but Virgil doesn't care as long as I can hide it."

"No way!" Remus bounces forward towards them and lifts up the capelet the boy was wearing and Roman is in immediate awe at what he previously missed, the inside of his black capelet were tons of small embroidered flowers. "You did all these?!"

"That's so cool!" Roman smiles as Janus gently tugs his cape back from Remus but looks a lot less tense, even giving his brother a small smile. Roman with his much more trained tailor eyes could see spots in the fabric where mistakes where made, where Janus had probably pulled the thread back through to fix it which isn't anything bad but the boy does find it a little weird that all those little holes where only in one area with the more sloppy of embroidery flowers.

"I'm sure your mother could do better." And just like that, the mood has fallen again, this time for the twins.

"Yeah, nah, mom's dead." Remus fills in, turning to actually walk beside them rather than backward and in front of them. "It's why we aren't still in the capital."

"Ah, I'm sorry to bring it up." Janus rubs his arms, looking a little uncomfortable.

"It's cool," Roman and Remus say at the same time, giggling at each other before Roman continues. "We did just talk about her so you know."

"What about your parents?" Remus, of course, asks the worse question as Janus clams up again.

"They died recently." The boy says, fiddling with the ends of his capelet with his brow furrowed. "That's why I'm with Logan and Virgil, they-" Janus hesitates, looking confused and angry. "They got me out before I was hurt."

"Oh," Remus opens his mouth to say something but Roman shakes his head and shuts him up before he can ask. "Uh, well, I don't know about Virgil but Logan's really nice."

"Virgil is a liar," Janus mutters quietly but nods slightly. "Logan seems fine, I never really talked to him much."

"Logan's good." Roman agrees as Janus just shrugs. "He always buys us a batch of cookies from Patton if we keep up on our reading."

"I feel awkward!" Remus declares very loudly to break this conversation before he lightly smacks Janus on the back. "Tag, you're it!" And the twin dashes off down the path.

Roman acts quickly to follow him before Janus gets out of his surprised daze but a little down the way he realizes Janus doesn't chase them and instead just stands there looking a little lost as the twins run from him. "C'mon, aren't you playing?" He slows to the stop, letting the new kid catch up.

"I'm not sure, exactly, what we're playing." The boy comes up to stand beside him and being as used to Remus as he is, half expects this to be a trap but Janus makes no move to reach for him or anything.

"REMUS!" Roman cups his hand over his mouth to shout, making his brother pause and stop running. "He doesn't know what tag is!"

"What?!" Remus shoats back from his distance away before turning to start bounding his way back to them. "How does he not know what tag is?!"

"Yeah," Roman parrots. "How can you not know what tag it?"

"Well, excuse me." Roman watches Janus's cheeks flush as he puffs up and crosses his arms. "I had actually important things to with my time back home besides act like a stupid kid."

"Ooo, touchy!" Remus giggles as he approaches. "I bet you just didn't have friends!" He goes to poke the new kid's cheek but Janus quickly slaps his hand away.

"I had a friend!" He stomps his foot, huffing out in anger. "I played better games, not whatever tag is."

"Oh yeah?" Remus teases. "What's their name if you had such a cool friend?"

Janus opens his mouth to reply but snaps his jaw shut and looks away from the twins, his face still burning red but the anger fades quicker than Roman can blink and he catches Remus panicked expression before realizing that Janus's eyes get shiny with building tears.

"Oh, oh no..." Remus waves his hands frantically. "I didn't mean it, don't cry!" His brother looks at Roman, desperate for help from the one who's actually good at feelings.

"I'm not going to cry." Roman watches as Janus scrubs his eyes with his sleeve, schooling his face into a glare at the two of them that doesn't hold any heat. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ruin the game. I should probably go-"

"No!" Both twins shoat at the same time, startling the poor boy in front of him.

"Don't go!"

"Stay!"

"Here." Roman holds out his arm. "Just tap me." He waits for Janus to reach out and tap his arm. "There, now I'm it and I chase you and Remus around until I can tap one of you and make you it, and then you chase us. It's easy to play, I'll even give you a head start!"

Janus stares at him for a long moment before looking at Remus before his gaze softens. "So, I just run from whoever's it and try to tap someone when I'm it?"

Remus gives a sharp nod. "Yup! We'll go until we get to the treehouse." Remus gestures down their path. "Whoever's still it by the time we get the tree loses. Loser does the chores next time grandpa asks."

"Uh," Roman cuts in. "We're probably not going to do anything for the loser since your playing, don't worry."

"Aw, why not?" Remus grins widely. "Janus and I are gonna kick your butt anyway."

"No! I always win." Roman huffs.

"Ha! You never win."

"Yes, I do!"

"Liar! liar! Ants on fire!"

"It's pants on fire!"

Janus appears to already be a natural as in the middle of bickering with Remus, he looks up to see the new kid already running down the path, having slipped by them. Roman interrupts his twin mid-argument to shove him. "You're it!" And he takes off laughing down the path, ignoring Remus's hiss as he leaves him behind.

Remus is right in that Roman ends up losing, not because Remus is faster than him but because Roman, the valiant knight that he is, slows down when Janus is it to let him tag him as the boy doesn't seem as used to running around as the two of them.

He's a little salty he couldn't get Remus again before reaching the tree but Janus is giggling with his brother when he arrives so Roman can't be too upset.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters a lot more dialog heavy then I'm used to writing but also it's fun just having Roman and Remus argue and Janus just standing there like "???"


	3. Chapter 3

It takes a bit of coaxing to actually get Janus into the treehouse, apparently he never really climbed trees back in the capital which is fair, most of the trees there sucked for climbing but the treehouse had a completely sturdy rope ladder that the boy was nervous to climb.

Remus watched from the platform above with a grin as his twin gets his dreams stomped on by the new kid.

"I'll be right behind you to catch you if you fall!" Roman promises with his hand over his heart. "Knight's honor!"

"Knights are traitors and liars." Janus hisses and Remus nearly cackles his way right off the edge he's leaning on at the pure offended sputtering noises his brother makes.

"They are not! They're noble and good!" His twin does the silly dramatic pose he does. "They fight to protect the people and I'll be one someday!"

"I'd recommend a change in professions." Janus speaks with his fancy words and accent before he looks over the ladder again. "I don't trust this at all."

"We go up it all the time, it's fine." Remus sits by the edge of the ladder, looking down at the boy. "Quit being a baby!"

If looks could kill, Remus would have a dagger in his back from the glare that Janus sends him. There's a fire in those eyes that Remus's taunts feed into(not counting the little mishap earlier that almost made the boy cry.) And Janus finally seems to relent and spares a glance to Roman. "You won't let me fall?"

Roman nods immediately. "I'll be here at the bottom to catch you and Remus is up there to help you up. We're good knights here to serve you!"

Janus rolls his eyes and takes the first unsteady step onto the ladder as Remus sits near the edge to be ready to reach for him. "Well, Roman's a knight," Remus says. "I prefer to be a monster, he stabs me a lot."

"Hm." Janus doesn't give much of a reply as he slowly makes his way up the rope ladder, stopping half away as the ladder shakes with him. Remus can see the slight panic in the boy's eye so he does what he does best and continues to talk.

"Roman likes to slay dragons but I'm more of a Kraken guy myself." Remus reaches a hand down to help coax Janus up a little more. "Marcy, another kid, she plays dragons better but she's two years older than us and sometimes beats Roman up."

"She does not!" Roman squawks and makes Janus giggle a little, it makes the new kid brave enough to take another step up which is all Remus needs to reach down to grab him and haul him up.

And jeez, is it not hard to pull the boy up. Their Grandpa has made swords heavier than this dainty twig of a child but at least Janus looks significantly less nervous now that he's able to stand on a solid platform.

Roman is up the ladder in seconds once Janus is out of the way and loudly welcomes their new friend. "Welcome to our palace!" Remus lets his twin lead Janus inside. "Within these walls, I am Prince Roman, I am humbly at your service." He gives a dramatic bow and Janus snickers before looking at Remus.

"I'm the duke because I'm cooler," Remus informs him as he pushes by the two to claim the hammock before Roman stole it again. "I'd rather push you out of the tree then be 'humbly at your service' but welcome to the castle."

"Excuse you," Roman stands up straight again. "It's a palace and a prince is better than a duke."

"It's a castle and dukes are way cooler than stuffy princes."

"No! I'm the heir to the throne, you're just like-" Roman pauses to think for a moment. "I don't actually know what dukes do but I think that adds to my point."

"Actually," Janus interrupts before Remus can reply. "Remus would be the heir to whatever throne this tree is."

"Um, did you not miss the part where I'm the prince?"

"You're twins, you'd both be princes." Janus looks between the two of them, gesturing to Remus. "But by Remus being a duke, he now has a title with his name and thus ranks higher than you."

"But-" Roman sputters and Remus tries to fight back his grin. "I'm a knight too! Doesn't that count?!" Oh, the utter betrayal.

Janus shrugs like he hasn't just crushed Roman's entire gimmick. "Dukes are higher than knights, ask Logan if you don't believe me."

"This is- this-" Roman stumbles for a response. "This is betrayal! Slander!" Remus giggles as his twin falls back onto the floor with a heavy thump and cries out. "I've been lied to this whole time! My kingdom abandons me! I'm left to misery as the tyrannical Duke destroys the land!"

"Aww, Ro." Remus reaches his leg out to lightly kick his brother's head. "I'll only destroy half of it, promise."

"Everything is-"

"Janus!" A booming voice comes from outside, interrupting Roman's drama. "Get out here, now!"

The twins share a look before turning to look at Janus who immediately looks tense. "Maybe I should have asked first..."

"Roman, Remus, can you boys come out?" Another voice calls, this one much more familiar.

"Shit, it's Patton." Remus curses only to be punched in the arm.

"Don't swear, he'll hear!"

Of course, the two whisper yell at each other and fail to notice Janus exiting the treehouse until he was yelling back from the platform outside. "What do you want?"

Remus immediately shoves Roman to get to the door, coming outside to find Janus leaning on the railing while staring down the Knightmare man, Roman follows closely behind him.

"What do I- You can't just run off like that, you brat!" This Virgil guy glares back up at the boy. "Get your aaa-" The man pauses to look at the baker next to him who only raises a brow. Remus has to admit he's wise to not aware in Patton's presence, no adult or child is immune to his disapproval. "Get down here, we're leaving now."

Janus leans back from the railing slightly and Remus catches him in the eye, there's that fire again. "And if I don't?" The boy smiles slightly as a grin stretches across Remus's face.

Heck yeah, rebellion.

"Oh my fuc-" Virgil cuts off again, raising his hand to rub his brow. "Why do you have to fight me at every step?"

"I don't know, Virgil. Why did you let my parents die?"

Suddenly the mood is much less fun but Janus seems to get the reaction he wanted as the boy gives a twisted smile at the man down below who falls quiet.

"Jan, you know it wasn't-"

"Okay!" Patton interrupts with the clap of his hands as if that'll break the tension at all. "Remus, Roman, why don't I walk you two home, yeah?" Which is polite code for 'This is a private talk so get your butts down here.' Which Roman listens too immediately, like the goody-two-shoes he is but Remus hesitates, looking at their new friend who wears that same sad angry look he had when Remus teased him before.

"Should I stay?" Remus asks in a whisper so the adults don't hear. "We can throw rocks at them." He offers, grinning a bit as Janus's forced smile becomes a little more genuine.

"No, I don't want you to get in trouble." He says, waving Remus off. "I'm mostly doing this because I'm not sure how to get down, partially to make Virge feel bad too but most that."

"Ha! We'll make a climber out of you yet, city boy." Remus promises as he takes Janus's word for it and heads down the ladder.

"A horrible fate." The boy mutters. "I might get a splinter."

The Virgil guy stays silent as Patton comes over and takes Remus's hand, already holding Roman's on his right. "You'll be okay making your way back? Lori's place is just off to the left if you need to find the path."

The cloaked man nods, giving the baker a small smile. "I'll be fine, thanks for-" He gestures to the treehouse Janus glowers down at him from. "-You know."

"It's no problem, I'll see you and Lo tomorrow?" Remus picks up on the hopeful tone in the man's voice and makes a gagging face at Roman who just barely stifles his giggles.

The walk back is that uncomfortable type of quiet and Remus pulls his hand free from Patton's to swing his arms as they walk. He looks at his brother who seems more focused on the ground than anything which is even more uncomfortable because between the three of them there's usually some sort of conversation to be had, Patton's supposed to be a fun adult but he's feeling just as weird as them.

"Did we get Janus in trouble?" Roman finally asks, cutting up the silence like meat. "We just wanted to play with him."

"Oh, no, it's um..." Patton blows a raspberry. "He just should have told someone where he was going first. Thankfully, I saw you two running around the shop and figured what happened or Virgil might have gotten really worried."

Remus kicks up the dirt as he walks. "Is Janus still going to be our friend?" He asks in a more quiet voice, a little bit of doubt eats away at him. He didn't really give Janus much of a choice in going with him, he almost made the boy cry, he got him stuck in the treehouse to fight with whoever Virgil is to him. "Virgil sounds mean, I don't think he's gonna let us be friends."

"Well, if Virgil says you can't be friends than he's going to get a very stern talking to," Patton promises, reaching over to mess up Remus's hair and earning a stifled giggle from the brother. "Things are a little complicated for Janus right now but don't you two worry, I'm sure he's just as excited to be your friend too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this has been done for a bit but I guess I just forgot to post it, whoops...


End file.
